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Vassar Fudge

A fudge made with sugar, bitter chocolate, and cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Vassar Fudge

Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Vassar Fudge

Ingredients

Directions

Make the fudge

  1. In a bright kettle, combine sugar, chocolate, and cream.

  2. Stir continuously and cook until the mixture reaches 238°F (114°C) or a very soft ball stage.

  3. Remove from heat and stir briskly.

Set and store

  1. When it starts to thicken, pour onto wax paper laid on a slab between iron bars, spreading it to about ½ inch thick.

  2. Once cooled, mark into one-inch squares and break apart for storage.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  2. Chocolate + creamtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Granulated sugar
Provides the sweetness and, as it dissolves and cooks, the firm crystalline structure of the fudge.
Bitter chocolate
Supplies the chocolate flavor and fat that give the fudge its richness and dense body.
Cream
Adds fat and moisture, keeping the fudge creamy and smooth rather than dry or brittle.

The step that matters

Stir briskly after removing from heat. Stirring while the cooked sugar syrup cools makes it crystallize into fine, creamy grains. Stirring too late or too little can leave the fudge grainy or cause it to set unevenly.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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